Internal-combustion engine.



INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE.

APPLlcATloN min Nov. 12, 913.

Patented Ang. 13, 191s.

3 SHEETS-SHEET l- 71115 messes.' rn/ventani @Mm-Mm@ 0. 0. STORLE.INTERNAL comusloN ENGINE.

Patented Aug. 13,` 1918.

APPLICATION FILED NOV-12. 1913. 1,275,494.

I. 3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

'mL-messes.'

. mass of t UNITED sTATEs PATENT oEEIcE.

OLE O. STORLE, 0F TACOMA, WASHINGTON, ASSIGNOR T0 THE STRLE ENGINE COM'PAN'Y, O1' KEWAUNEE, WISCONSIN.

` mmanconrcsrron enema. y

Patented Aug. 13, 1918.

i" Specification of Letters Iatent.

application and november 1s, 191s. smal No. 800,652.

To all whom it may concern.' o

Be it known that I, OLE O. S'roRLn, a c1t1 zen of the United States,residing at Tacoma, in the count of Pierce and State of Washin on, havemvented certain new and useful mprovements in Internal-CombustionEngines, of which the follow' is a specification, reference being had tot e accom anying drawing, forming a part thereof. Tllie main objects ofthis invention are to reduce wear and friction in the power transmissionconnections of the pistons; to facilltate takin up any such wear; toutilize the e cylinders and pistons as a fly wheel; to provlde simpleand or balance effective means for keeping the engine cool without waterjackets' facilitate thorough lu gine; and generally to improve theconstruction 'and operation of engines of this tol provide for andclass.

The invention consists inthe construction, arrangement and combinationof parts as hereinafter particularly described and pointed out intheclaims.

In the accompanying drawing like characters designate the same parts inthe several figures.

lFigure 1 is an axial section on the line 1 1, Fig. 2, of afour-cylinder, four-cycle, internal combustion engine embodying theinvention; Fig. 2 is a line 2 2, Fi 1, and an end elevation of theengine; ig. 3 is a section on the line 3 3, Fig. 4, showing amodification ofthe means for connecting the thrust head with the enginecylinders and causing them to rotate together; and Fig. 4 is anelevation and a partial section of the same on the;

line 4 4, Fig. 3.

Referring to Figs. 1 and 2, 1 designates a relatively iixed tubularbearing shaft, xed at one end to a or frame member 2 and provided at theother end with a tubular bearing extension 3 eonnectedtherewith by acoupling member 24 at an oblique angle thereto. l l

The extension 3 is supported at its outer end b y an arm 4, having abearing shank 5 in axial alinement with the shaft 1, fixed to a base orframemember 6. A number of cylinders 7, in the present case four,- arerotatably mounted -on the shaft 1, with their axes parallel therewithand equidistant therefrom and from each other.

A rotary thrust head 8 is mounted on the rication of the ell-- 16,fitted in cross section on the extension 3, ball bearings beinginterposed between the hub of the sion 3, and an 'adjusting ring 9 beingthreaded on the outer end of the extension 3 and fastened in placethereonby'a set screw 10 for taking up Wear or play in the ballbearseveral cylinders.

The rods 13 are formed at the other end with balls 15, fitted inadjustable sockets provided therefor in the pistons. These sockets areeach composed of a half section a recess in the piston to receive oneside of a ball 15, and of two sections 17, tted over the other side ofthe ball around the connecting rod 13, which passes through and is freeto vibrate a limited distance between them. The sections of the socketare held in place in the piston and on the ball by an adjusting ring 18,threaded in the piston and bearing at lts inner end against the outerends of the' sections 17, sufficient clearance being left between thesection 16 and the sections 17 for taking up wear and play. The rin 18is fastened by a set screw 19, thread in the ring and engaging with thepiston. The socket bearings in the head 8 are of similar construction,but are made in two sections, 20 and 21, instead of three, the section21, surrounds the rod 13, being passed into place, in assembling theparts, over the lball 15, which lis of smaller diameter than the ball12. The sections 20 and 21 are secured in place in the head and on theball 12 by an adjusting ring 22, threaded on a circular boss of the headsurrounding the recess therein and formed with an inWardl projectingange which bears against t e annular section 21.

The ring 22 is secured in place by a set screw 23, threaded in the head8 and en,- gaging with the rim of the ring.

The head l ders so as to compel them to rotate together by a link 64,having ball and socket joint connections with said head and the casting26 or other adjunctive part of the cylinders, as shown in Figsfl, 3 and4.

At their opposite ends the cylinders are which is of annular form andvhead and the extenand in these socket*v 8 is connected with the cylineably cast integrally with a central recessed' sleeve 28, surrounding theshaft 1 and forming therewith an annular chamber 29, and are formed orprovided, as shown in Fig. 2,

with inlet valve chambers 30 and exhaust.

valve chambers 31. The annular chamber 29 communicates throu h lateralopenings 32 with the bore of the s aft 1, which forms a fuel inlet orsupply conduit or passage 33, and it is connected with theinlet valvechambers by passages 34. The inlet valve chambers communicate with thecombustion chambers through orts 35, one of which is shown in Fig. 1, anthe exhaust valve chambers communicate with said combustion chambersthrough ports 36, one oiwhich is also shown in Fig. 1. The cylinders arerotatably supported on the shaft 1 by a. ball bearing, one annularmember of which is carried by the sleeve. 28 and the other by anadjusting ring 37 threaded on said shaft and secured 1n place by a setscrew 38;

The rotary thrust head 8 is inclosed by a case or housing 39, which isbolted with the casting 26 to the cylinders and has a ball 'bearing onthe shank V5 of the supporting arm 4, in alinement with the shaft 1.This case serves not only to inclose and protect the working parts ofthe engine, but also to contain oil for their lubrication. It is formedopposite the outer end of the eXtension 3 with a hand hole, and providedwith a removable cover 40, aording access to the adjusting ring 9 fortaking up play or wear in the ball bearings between the extension 3 andhead 8.'

The hub of the case or housing 29 may be provided with a gear 41, aslshown in Fig. 1, for transmitting power from the engine.

The arm 4 and its shank 5 are formed with a passage 42, whichcommunicates with the bore of the shaft extension 3 for supplying oil orlubricant to the bearings oi the rotary head 8, said extension beingclosed at its inner end and lateral openings 43 :formed therein oppositethe bearings.

The inner end of the shaft 1, which is separated from the fuel inletconduit 33 by aiplug or partition, may also be utilized to supply oil orlubricant to the ball bearing between the sleeve 28 and ring 37, alaterall opening 44 being ,formed in the shaft'opposite said bearing,and the shaft, which is accessible between the cylinders 7, beingprovided with an oil or grease cup, or other means (not shown) forsupplying it with the oil or lubricant.

The inlet chambers 30 are provided with inwardlv opening'valves, whichare of the usual construction, and therefore not shown in detail, thesevalves being closed and held normally against their seats by springs 4 5Lemme surrounding their stems 46, as shown in Fig. 2.

The exhaust valve chambers 31 are also provided with inwardly openingvalves of the usual construction, and therefore not shown in detail.These valves, like the inlet. valves, are closed and held normallyagainst their seats by springs 47 surrounding their stems 48 between thevalve cases and heads on the valve stems.

The cylinder heads are provided with bell crank levers 49, bearing atone end against the heads on the exhaust valve stems 48 and provided atthe other end with 'rollers 50. Bell crank levers 51, `also fulcrumed onthe cylinder heads, are provided with insulated .spring contact pieces52, arranged to cooperate with a relatively fixed insulated sprinContact piece 53, carried ,by an arm 54, W ich is mounted, as shown inFig. 1,

on the shaft 1, and angularly adjustable thereon to advance or retardthe spark produced by the engagement and separation of each of themovable contact ieces 52 with the contact piece 53. Both th) ing levers49 and the contact levers 51 are operated by cams 55, mounted on shafts56, which are in turn mounted parallel with the cylinders 7 in bearingsprovided ltherefor on the casting 26 and the sleeve 28.

The shafts 56 are provided with gears 57, which-mesh with a pinion 58 onthe shaft 1, (see Fig. 1) the gears having the ratio to the pinionof'two to one.

The rollers 50 at the inner ends of the levers 49, are held inengagement with the cams 55 by the springs 47, and the shorter inwardlyprojecting arms of the contact levers 51 are held in engagement withsaid cams by springs 59, which also serve to re tract and hold thecontact pieces 52 out of operative position relative to the contactpiece 53, except when the high parts of the associated cams 55 engagewith 'the shorter inwardly projecting arms of the levers 51 von everysecond revolution of veach contact piece 52 and the associatedcoperating elements with the engine cylinders.

The sleeve 28 is formed at each side of the annular chamber 2,9 withstung boxes, in which connected and spaced packing supporting andcompressing rings 60 are iitted. An adjustable gland 61, is threaded inthe outer stuiiing box and is fastened in' adjusted position by a setscrew 62.v Suitable packing 63, interposed and compressed between therings 60, and the inner end of the inner 4stuffing box and the. gland61, as shown in Fig. 1, form' fluid tight joints between the shaft l andthe sleeve 28, and prevent leakage from the chamber 29 around saidshaft.

The `cylinder and cylinder heads are formed, as shown, with cooling ribsor vanes, to increase their external surface and to more e valve open.

ELM

E sented by the lower part of Fig. 2, the

tons are forced by the thrust head 8 towardv the engine to the airthroughwhich they' move.

The engine may be set and operated eitherA horizontally as shown, orvertically, and the arm 4 and supportl 6 at one end thereof, may

set and operated in a vertical position, it being then supported solelyat the lower or outer end of the shaft 1.

In the operation of the engine the gas or iuid fuel supplied through theconduit 33 and openings 32 to the annular chamber 29, is drawn therefromthrough the passages 34: and ports 35 controlled by the automatic inletvalves into the .combustion chambers in therecessed cylinder heads 27 onthe suction'strokes of the several pistons, as they make a halfarevolution, represented by the upper part of Fig. 2, around the shaft1.

During the next half revolution, reprepisthe heads 27 and compress thecharges therein. At the beginning of the next half revolution,represented bythe upper art of'Fig, 2, the movable contact piece 52 oeach cylinder is in turn moved by the associated cam 55 outwardly intoposition to engage with the ixed contact piece 53, as shown at the rightin Fig. 2, and as said contact pieces are brought into engagement andseparated b A the rotary movement of the engine, a spar is produced inthe usual manner between the terminals of the spark plug (not shown) ofthe associated cylinder. The charge in that -cylinder'being thusignited, forces .the piston toward the head 8, which owing to theoblique position of its axis to the shaft 1, tends to turn thecylinders,pistons and thrust head bodily in the direction indicated by an arrow onFig. 2.

At the beginning of the next half `revolution, represented by the lowerart of Fig.

2, of each cylinder in which t e firing or Working stroke of the pistonv has just occurred, the high part of the .associated cam 55, byengagement with the roller 50 ofle ver 49, opens the exhaust valveagainst the tension of its sprin 47. At the end of the' exhaust strokeand t e beginning of the next suction stroke of each piston, thecorresponding lever 51 remains in its retracted position, holding thecontact piece 52 out of position for engagement with the contact piece53.

These operations are repeated in the several cylinders in the properorder, the suction stroke of each piston being followed by the firing orworking stroke of the next Ypis-v ton, and so on.

As there is'comparatively little movement I ofthe balls 12 and 15 intheir socket bearings,

engine may be made within the V'be omitted, particularly whenthe engineis i nected packing supportin vnature in presence of Y oLE o. sroRLE.

there is very little frictiony and wear in the joints between the rods13 and head 8 and the pistons 14.

Various modifications in the details of construction and arrangement ofparts of the irit and sco e of the invention as define inthe folibwingclaims. I claim: 1. In an internal combustion engine the combination ofa bearing shaft having an extension at an oblique angle thereto, anumber of `cylinders rotatably mounted on said shaft with their axesparallel therewith, a rotary thrust head mounted on said extension, alink connectin said thrust' head and cylinders and compe ling them torotate together, reciprocatlng pistons fitted in said tcylinders, androds connecting thepistons with said head.

2. In an internal 'combustion engine the.

shaft and forming therewith an annular chamber communicating with theinlet conduit-,through a lateral opening in said shaft,

' said sleeve being formed with stuffing boxes at the ends of saidchamber, spaced and conrin s fitted. in said boxes, an adjustable g andtted in the outer end of the outer box, and cylinders rof tatablymounted with said sleevel on said shaft and provided with inlet valvechambers connected by passages with said anl' x nular chamber.

3. In an internal combustion engine the combmation of a stationary suporting shaft provided with a pinion, a num er of cylinders rotatablymounted on said shaft with their axes parallel therewith and providedwith exhaust valves. and chambers and with spring retracted electriccontact levers and valve actuating levers, rota vshafts 4 mounted onsaid cyllnders paralle therewith and provided with cams and with gearsmeshing -with said pinion, and a contact arm mount- 'Isf ed a'ndangularly adjustable on said shaft in the path of the contact partsofthe contact `levers when the latter are lturned by the cams intooperative position,.the cams and theractuating gears being adapted toshift `thevcontact lever and thev valve actuating lever of each cylinderinto position to produce'a spark and to openvthe exhaust valve in properrotation once to every two revolutions of the cylinders.

In witness whereof I hereto ailix my sigtwo witnesses.

' Witnesses:

. CHAs. L. Goss,

ALICE E. Goss.

